Year: 2026

I haven’t owned a soft shell jacket in a very long time, and a lot of that really is due to the fact I first wore them when they were new — and thus not that great — and I ditched them because of those compromises from the originals. There’s two types of soft shells out there: fashion (aka Finance Bro shit with company logos), and serious outdoors jackets.

I had written soft shells off completely, as I thought they were all fashion bullshit — a compromise not worth owning. But my interest was piqued again when I started reading more about the modern variants.

Then I went to try out the Gamma in person, to help a friend looking at options who lived far away from an Arc’teryx store. What I found surprised me, and a week or so later I bought the Gamma hoody for myself. It’s been one of the best purchases I have made for outdoor/hiking wear — and I wear it often.

It’s very good.

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Since moving to back to an area where carrying your own tote bags for items you purchase is not only recommended, but largely assumed, I’ve been on the hunt for the best packable tote bags. There’s loads of these out there, so here’s what I am liking so far.

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Note: these were provided for review.

Pioneer Carry asked me a while back if there was anything I’d like to check out from the brand in addition to the backpacks they’ve been sending over, and I focused in on the Zen Zips which are a pair of tiny little pouches. They had been out of stock, but recently Pioneer Carry was kind enough to send over these cute little pouches, and I’m glad they did.

This a fun and quirky, and a great thing to have on hand.

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